


The Karate Club

by wanderingbeauty



Category: Karate Kid (Movies)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-02
Updated: 2018-06-02
Packaged: 2019-05-17 11:34:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14831508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wanderingbeauty/pseuds/wanderingbeauty
Summary: A lame re-hashing of the classic John Hughes movie -- this time with characters from the Karate Kid. Nonetheless, I hope you guys like it. :)





	The Karate Club

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so this story isn't as angsty as the original Breakfast Club because there wasn't as much tension between all of the characters; the only beef that was noticeable was between the Cobras and Daniel. But it was super fun to write and I'm really proud of the outcome. I can't wait to see what you all think!

“Good morning, Johnny.” Harris greeted him sarcastically as the boy trudged into the room. “You’re late.”

Johnny snorted in response -- a big, mucusy, booger-filled snort. “Eat me.” He slid in beside Bobby and dropped his head onto the table.

“Watch it,” Harris snapped. “I don’t want to be here any more than you do, but I won’t hesitate to give you another Saturday. Understood?”

“Mmph.”

“Good.” He pointed to each of them individually. “I’ll be grading papers across the hall. Keep it down in here, alright?” He made the not-so-wise move of shutting the door behind him.

Daniel leaned over and tugged on Ali’s ponytail. “Hey, I’m sorry you got roped into this.”

“You should be.” She didn’t look up from the book she was reading -- _Passing_ by Nella Larson. She had a report due next week. “If it weren’t for you I wouldn’t even be in here.”

“Bet you were wishing you were still with me, huh?” Johnny’s voice was muffled; he still hadn’t lifted his head from the table. 

“I’d still be in here, idiot.” 

Daniel rubbed her back. “I really am sorry. But at least we still get to spend the day together, right?”

She had to smile; as much as she hated to admit it, he had a charm about him that made her melt. 

And it wasn’t entirely Daniel’s fault. She’d shoved Dutch off of him just as Harris was approaching the scene. It definitely wasn’t her proudest moment, nevermind what her parents had to say. The ride to school that morning had been tense and awkward; she’d never seen her dad that angry. 

He’d said something about Daniel being a bad influence -- being from Reseda and all -- but she’d only been half-listening. Besides, Daniel didn’t need to know about the conversation anyway.

She turned around and looked at the Cobras. They were bored. Half-asleep. Johnny probably _was_ asleep. Then she snuck a peak at Daniel; he was looking back and forth between his notebook and his chemistry textbook.

She put a hand on his leg and kept reading.

***

“Wake up, Johnny.” Harris smacked him with a rolled up stack of papers. “It’s lunchtime. You and Daniel are gonna go get some sodas from the machine at the end of the hall.”

He wiped the drool off his chin. “Are you sure that’s a good idea, sir?”

“Well, I’m sure you don’t want to miss your big tournament next week. Eh?”

At that, he sniffed and rose from his seat. “Let’s go, Larusso.”

But Daniel was already on his feet. 

He walked behind Johnny in the fluorescent hallway, pulling his jean jacket tighter around him. For whatever reason, the AC in the school was killer. Johnny was wearing his standard red jacket, which was very thin. Daniel wondered if he was freezing. 

“Okay,” Johnny began, “your first mistake is trailing behind me like a pussy.” 

“I… I’m not-- I don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

“Be a man. Walk like you’re my equal.” When Daniel didn’t obey, Johnny stopped so he could catch up and they resumed walking side by side. 

He couldn’t not notice the bruise near Johnny’s eye -- he’d put it there. It was now yellowing. A sign of healing. 

He couldn’t say the same for his own face. There was a gash across the bridge of his nose and scrapes on his ribs; it hurt when he breathed too heavily. 

His mom hadn’t been too thrilled dropping him off at school, but she was more worried than anything. Daniel felt bad -- Lucille was _always_ worried -- but he assured her that things would change after the tournament. 

Or, at least, that’s what he was hoping for. 

They reached the soda machine. Johnny put in five quarters, got five Cokes. When it was Daniel’s turn he got a Pepsi for himself and a Sprite for Ali. 

They were walking back to the library when Johnny was seized by a coughing fit. He braced himself against the wall and hacked, careful not to drop any of his soda cans. 

“I think I might have some cough drops in my bag,” Daniel offered. 

“No.” Johnny snorted back some snot, straightened himself up. “Thanks.” 

“Really. It’s no trouble.” 

“I’m fine.” 

They got back to the library and Johnny distributed the cans to the Cobras; Daniel reclaimed his seat and gave Ali her sprite. 

“Alright,” Tommy’s voice called from the back of the room. “I have an egg salad sandwich. Who wants to trade?”

Daniel looked in his lunchbag. “I’ll trade you.”

There was a pause. “Whataya got?”

“PB&J.”

“What kinda jelly?”

“Grape, I think.”

Tommy wordlessly threw his sandwich to the front of the room; Daniel grabbed it before it slid off the table and tossed his behind him.

They ate in silence with the exception of Johnny’s snorts and sniffles echoing off the walls every few seconds. “Sorry, guys,” he said after a minute. “This is gonna be gross.” He coughed violently, then got up and walked to the trash can in front of the room, hocking a lugie and spitting. His eyes met Daniel’s when he turned around. 

***

“Are you two dating?” The question had come from Daniel. 

Dutch burst into guffaws, looking over at Bobby and Johnny whose arms were around each other. Everyone had migrated to the second floor; they were all sprawled out on the carpet in one way or another. “I told you -- everyone thinks you’re fags!” 

Bobby rolled his eyes and turned to Daniel. “No, we’re not. We’re just…” He looked over at Johnny, who seemed just as lost for words as he was. “Really close.”

“ _Super_ close,” Dutch mumbled. 

Johnny kicked him in the shin.

“I wouldn’t care if you were,” Daniel clarified. “I was just asking.”

Bobby had actually been out since freshman year. Not to his parents or any other adults in his life, but it was common knowledge around the school. The Cobras were the first people he told, and despite the occasional homophobic slur or tasteless joke they were generally accepting of it. 

Once Dutch had joked that “being gay is fine as long as you don’t make a pass at me,” and Bobby was quick to tell him not to worry -- he just wasn’t his type.

That shut Dutch up really quick. 

Jimmy groaned and flopped onto his back. “I’m bored as hell, man.”

“I know something that could help.” Johnny pulled a baggie out of his back pocket. His eyes flashed with mischief as he held it to the light, exposing its contents. 

“ _Marijuana??_ ” Daniel practically screamed. “You brought marijuana to school??”

“Settle down, Danielle.” Dutch snagged the bag and lit a blunt, taking the first hit.

“Seriously.” Johnny backed him up. “It’s just a little weed.”

“Oh, yeah, just a little weed. That’s just _great,_ man.”

“As opposed to coke? Yeah.” Johnny gave him a small smile. “It won’t hurt you. It’s not as bad as everyone makes it out to be.”

“Who wants in?” Dutch was apparently bored with the right/wrong politics and just wanted to get the party started.

Whoops and hollers came from all sides; suddenly they were all sitting in a circle with the exception of Daniel and Ali.

She looked over at him. “Are you gonna be mad if I join in?”

He gaped at her. “You’ve done this before?”

“Well, yeah. I was friends with the Cobras before I even met you. Heck, I was friends with Bobby before he even joined Cobra Kai!”

Daniel got that flustered, angry look on his face that made her roll her eyes. “Do whatever you want,” he huffed. “I don’t care.”

She gave him a kiss on the cheek, then found a space in the circle and squeezed in.

He looked at all of them -- stupid and giggly. 

He wasn’t going to do it. 

He knew better. 

He didn’t want even more trouble. 

He may have been a lot of things, but one thing he swore he’d never be was a drug addict. 

Johnny’s eyes caught his as the blunt was passed to him. He gave a small smirk as he took another hit.

He joined the circle two minutes later. 

***

“You know somethin’?” Johnny asked. They’d killed two blunts between all of them and were now passing a superball back and forth. “Being here really isn’t so bad. Beats being at home.” He tossed the ball to Tommy. 

“What’s so bad about your homelife?” Daniel asked. “You have it made.”

“Bullshit, man.”

His dad died when Johnny was seven -- that’s when Sid came into the picture. It wasn’t all bad. At least, not at first. He wasn’t overly fond of Sid, but the man had taken him out for ice cream and taught him how to ride a bike without training wheels. Plus, he seemed to be making Johnny’s mom happy. That was all that mattered. 

Around age ten was where it all started to go south. Sid and Laura were fighting on an almost daily basis, but she stayed for Johnny’s sake -- Sid was able to provide for both of them. 

Maybe that was an understatement. 

She died shortly after Johnny started freshman year. After that, Sid was practically throwing money at Johnny to keep him out of his hair. It was the only thing Johnny could count on. 

He told Daniel as much. 

“Hey, man, I’m really sorry.” Daniel threw him the ball. “I had no idea.”

“Of course you didn’t.” Johnny chuckled dryly. “It’s not like we’re friends.” 

***

“ _I KNOW SOMETHING WE COULD DO._ ” Dutch jerked awake at Johnny’s outburst. “C’mon, Bobby.”

“Where are we going?”

“Just follow me, man.” Dutch listened as their footsteps left the room.

“You think they’re gonna go get some more drugs?” That was Daniel.

Ali laughed. “Don’t be so paranoid. Johnny might be a jerk, but the most he’s done is a little pot.”

A few minutes later, the footsteps were back. Dutch took his jacket off of his face and looked up to see Johnny holding an acoustic guitar; Bobby was trailing behind him with a set of bongos. He sat up sharply. “What are we gonna do, have a freakin’ sing-along?”

Johnny grinned in a way that said _hell yeah we are._ He sat down on the floor and started picking a chord progression that sounded syncopated at first, but upon a closer listen Dutch realized it was a staccato rhythm. And one of the worst songs ever at that -- Sunglasses at Night by Corey Hart. But when Bobby started singing, he smiled; Bobby had one of those natural voices. Not exactly _great,_ but he’d never taken any lessons and he still sounded okay. Nice to listen to.

His drum skills, on the other hand, left a lot to be desired. Dutch snickered as his friend struggled to keep a simple beat. He watched as Ali got to her feet, pulling Daniel along and forcing him to dance. After awhile she walked over to Dutch, getting him to his feet a little reluctantly. Still, she let him put his hands on her hips and hold her close. Not a bad deal. 

After that song had ended, Johnny started playing a song Dutch didn’t even know he knew -- Careless Whisper by Wham!.

Ali’s face lit up and she went back over to Daniel, resting her head on his shoulder. 

The big shock was when Johnny started to sing. Despite being sick as a dog, he sounded pretty good. His voice was naturally smokey, but there was an added hoarseness that really accentuated the pain in the lyrics. Toward the bridge -- the most demanding part of the song, from the sound of it -- Johnny opted out and went falsetto. Dutch watched as Daniel looked at him with a mixture of jealousy and…

Dutch couldn’t help but smirk when the song ended. “Ya got a little crush, Larusso?” 

He let go of Ali. “What are you talkin’ about, man?”

“C’mon. Everyone loves a man who can play guitar.”

“Shut up, Dutch,” Tommy warned. “I’m bored with this.”

“I don’t think I’m saying anything that everyone in this room didn’t already know, am I?” Dutch chewed on a hangnail. “Why don’t you just come out already, man? We won’t have a problem with it.” 

Daniel clenched his fists; Ali stopped him. “He’s just trying to make you mad, Daniel. It’s probably a trick to get you another Saturday in here.”

He nodded, swallowed. “You haven’t given me any trouble all day. It’s almost time to leave -- can we just get through the rest of the afternoon without a fight, please?”

“Sure, if you can get through the rest of the afternoon without gawking at any of us.”

Daniel cursed under his breath.

Dutch noticed that Johnny was a little too preoccupied with tuning the guitar.

***

“What’s gonna happen at the tournament next week?” Daniel asked. “Or on Monday, for that matter?” Ali’s head was in his lap; he was braiding a piece of her hair absentmindedly. 

“Well, I can’t speak for all of us,” Johnny vaguely gestured around the room. “But I think it’s safe to say I’m still gonna kick your ass.” When Daniel laughed, he shook his head. “No, man. I’m serious.” 

“C’mon, Johnny,” Bobby started. 

“I _have to._ You don’t get it.” 

“Enlighten me, then.” There was a twinge of annoyance in Daniel’s voice. 

Johnny sighed. “You don’t understand the pressure I’m under.”

Bobby knew what was coming; he’d been on the receiving end of this speech too many times to count. 

Johnny was caught between a rock and a hard place. He barely had any memories of his dad, and the ones that stuck were warm. Loving. Nostalgic. Comparing that to the present was a swift kick in the face. Sid never did anything with him -- never went to any of his karate matches, never taught him how to drive. Heck, Johnny considered it a good day if Sid glanced up from the paper when he came home in the afternoons. 

Bobby was quick to offer Johnny the guest room at his house, but he had too much pride for that; he’d made a promise to his mom that he wouldn’t run away. He wouldn’t just leave when the going got tough. 

So he turned to the only real father figure he had. Kreese. 

Kreese was a real hardass. One day during a demonstration in class he’d kicked Johnny in the eye. It was an accident, of course, but as everyone knows, eyes well up when they’re struck. 

Instead of checking to see if his student was alright, Kreese started berating him.

“Are those tears? I’m sorry, Mr. Lawrence; have I suddenly wandered into a Home Economics classroom?”

There were a lot of things that weren’t allowed in the Cobra Kai dojo; emotion was one of them. 

“I dunno.” Johnny’s voice was quiet. Not from the fatigue of sickness; this was a reserved, cautious softness that Bobby had never heard from him before. As long as he’d known his best friend, he’d never pegged Johnny as someone to be reserved about anything. “Sometimes I look at guys and I think, ‘ _Wow._ ’ But then I’m quick to tell myself that I’m crazy. But… but maybe I’m not.”

Bobby took his head off Johnny’s shoulder and looked at him. He couldn’t think of anything to say. 

He watched as Daniel slowly got up and crossed the room. He put his hand over Johnny’s and squeezed. “You’re not. I promise.” 

Johnny offered an unsure smile. “Thanks, Larusso. You’re alright.”

“Jesus Christ,” Dutch griped. “Will you two just get a room?”

“Shut up,” Ali snapped.

He did. 

Jimmy stretched with a groan. “It’s almost three, guys. We should probably get back to our seats.” 

They all wordlessly got up, making their way toward the staircase. When Johnny started snapping his fingers, Bobby grinned. He knew what was coming. 

For the Longest Time by Billy Joel was a song that all the Cobras knew the words to. They sang in perfect harmony as they descended the stairs and took their seats; Ali and Daniel even joined in on the last verse. 

Bobby thought to himself that that was the best he’d felt in a long time. 

When the song was over, Daniel turned around in his chair to look at Johnny with a smile. “You know what, man? I’ll do my best next Saturday and you do yours. But I’ll tell you what -- you’re not as bad as I thought you were. Maybe we could hang out sometime.” 

Johnny winked in response. 

Harris strolled into the room not long after, tugging on the lapels of his jacket like a distinguished businessman. “I trust we all had a good time today, yes? Learned a thing or two about each other?”

“Yes, Mr. Harris,” they droned in unison. 

“Great! So let’s not see each other next week, alright? You guys are good students, but I only want to see you from Monday to Friday.”


End file.
